Eyes of March looking more red than usual

[TexasStooge]

Warm winter means allergy sufferers won't be breathing easy this spring

By MICHAEL E. YOUNG / The Dallas Morning News

Spring is in the air – along with a whole lot of other stuff that could make the coming months a misery for many North Texans.

The season, with its one-two pollen punch from mountain cedar, oak and other trees – followed almost immediately by turf and wild grasses – plagues allergy sufferers. But spring 2006, which begins Monday, appears particularly nasty.

"We forgot to have winter this year," said Dr. Gary Gross, a Dallas allergist. "Now, the trees are budding, and the winds are up, and the pollen is flying."

And it's landing in the red eyes, itchy noses and scratchy throats of thousands of people sensitive to such intrusions.

That explains the brisk business at Dr. Gross' practice, Dallas Allergy and Asthma Center, where Bonnie Grossfeld waited for her weekly shot and 9-year-old John Stephenson underwent testing for the cause of his symptoms.

"I've had allergies my whole life," Ms. Grossfeld said, "but they've gotten worse and worse. So last year I decided to get the shots."

Have they helped?

"I think so," she said. "I feel like I'm a little better than I was last year at this time."

Adults, of course, can stay indoors and lower their exposure. But it's a different world for kids, as John's mom knows well.

"He wants to be moving all the time, and sometimes the allergies get him down," Mary Catherine Stephenson said. "Every time there's a seasonal kind of change, he has a little problem. Sometimes I think he has allergies to grass, and if he doesn't take a histamine blocker, he gets a reaction.

"And he's had a cough, and that slows him down, too."

This weekend's rains could offer some sweet relief, but it's only temporary, Dr. Gross warned. And eventually, a good dousing could contribute to more allergic reactions by providing the moisture molds need to flourish and triggering growth spurts in our thirsty florae.

"There's no winning in Dallas," Dr. Gross said.

Its geography and weather patterns conspire with its more irritating grasses and trees to place the area among the worst in the nation for allergy sufferers.

The predominantly southerly breezes begin sweeping mountain cedar pollen from the Hill Country in early winter. Then, the local trees begin budding in February and March, peaking in early April before settling down in June.

That meshes nicely with grass pollination, which begins in late-March, peaks just after the trees in mid-April and continues well into August, when the first fall weeds and their pollen pop.

Unlike flowers, which rely on insects to carry pollen for propagation, trees, grasses and weeds bank on the breeze, Dr. Gross said. And Dallas provides plenty of wind.

It's that scattershot approach that spreads allergy symptoms far and wide. Ragweed pollen has been collected 400 miles out at sea and two miles above Earth's surface. And because of the imprecise delivery system, weeds, grasses and trees produce huge quantities of pollen. One ragweed plant can release a million grains of pollen a day.

If that weren't troublesome enough, researchers at the Texas A&M Dallas Agricultural Research and Extension Center have found another potent allergen lurking in lawns, with the potential for causing serious medical problems in some allergy sufferers.

Decomposing grass nestled beneath the spring growth serves as a perfect incubator for mold spores of the genus alternaria, a particularly aggravating type.

"You probably see people out mowing their lawns with masks over their faces," said Phillip Colbaugh, one of the researchers. "They're people already sensitized to allergies. The very dangerous spores produced on lawns pose a huge health problem for them."

Mold spores are much smaller than most plant spores – and even those are only about the width of a human hair – and just breathing can carry them deep into the throat and lungs.

"In fact, the spores can cause a problem called sudden asthma syndrome in some people," Dr. Colbaugh said. "When that hits, you have about 30 minutes to get to the hospital before you die."

Researchers enlisted high school interns from Garland and Plano to collect grass clippings from their communities and then count the allergy-causing mold spores they washed from the grass.

Bermuda grass carried more spores than St. Augustine types, Dr. Colbaugh said, and grass from sunny sites had three times more spores than shade-grown grass.

"Texas is a really bad area for asthma and allergy sufferers," he said. "The potential for exposure to allergens is high, and the exposure to mold spores is just one component in a complicated picture."

Of course, anyone in Dallas with any susceptibility to allergens knows that from hard experience – especially now, when the sniffles seem universal.

"This year," Ms. Grossfeld said, "everybody is in the same boat."